American Research Journal of English and Literature

 This study investigates the level of competence which working-class Nigerians exhibit as far as effective communication in English, Nigeria’s lingua franca, is concerned. One cannot ignore the fact that there are several factors which contribute to lack of skills in English among Nigerians, just as one cannot ignore the truism that there are a lot of people who had Credit Pass in English and gained admissions into tertiary institutions through fowl means, yet graduated in their respective disciplines and became part of the workforce whether or not their performance in English is satisfactory. Relying on contemporary English grammar, the analyses done in this research, show that the chunk of the Nigerian workforce is incompetent in the grammar (incorrect sentences and misuse of the parts of speech) of English – as evident in written communications: memos, reports, minutes of meeting and letters from Nigerian universities.